RichC | April 8, 2009
According to an “Wheels” article today in the New York Times, Stefan Jacoby, president and chief executive of Volkswagen Group of America talked and promoted clean diesel over electric and hybrid vehicles a the New York auto show. He was the keynote speaker at the annual breakfast for the press and took the opportunity to […]
RichC | March 31, 2009
Volkswagen Jetta TDI fans will enjoy seeing their long lasting and economical diesel being used in NYC as a taxicab. In the newer body style, rear seats have a couple more inches, so really the A5 Jetta makes perfect sense as a taxi. If you’ve ever looked at the trunk (boot), you’d know that luggage […]
RichC | March 30, 2009
Volkswagen has done a great job with the design of the new Golf GTD. Its design is similar to the popular Rabbit Golf although has a noticeable sporty edge. VW says it will stress fuel efficiency, clean diesel and better performance over the European Golf TDI. According to Motortrend, “under its hood is a more […]
RichC | March 6, 2009
TopGear.com American is working on their “triple 7” — $7000, 70mpg, 0-60mpg in under 7 seconds. They have purchase a VW Rabbit diesel in New York and are transplanting a TDI engine in Regina, Saskatchewan and have labeled the project the “Sipster.” The current video shows the engine transplant (below) although the project was announcmed […]
RichC | February 6, 2009
People often ask me what make a diesel car attractive enough that one would be willing to not only pay the couple thousand premium on the sticker, but find fewer marketing promotions at dealerships? I’ll usually point to the solid resale and better fuel economy, which is usually a topic of conversation at our GTGs. […]
RichC | February 3, 2009
Volkswagen, a leader in clean alternative fuel technology, will be launching four new BlueMotion vehicles. Two of them will be super clean diesels, the Passat BlueMotion, Passat Blue TDI, one running on compressed natural gass — the Passat TSI EcoFuel, and the headliner a Touareg V6 TSI Hybrid. The Touareg with be be VW’s first […]
RichC | January 21, 2009
The long running weekly PBS automotive program Motorweek reviewed the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI on last weekend’s show. As expected, they gave it a pretty decent review mentioning that it is now 50 state legal and clarified the emission control features that differentiates it from the “AdBlue” diesels. [flv:MW_2009VWJettaTDI090117.flv 480 355]
RichC | January 16, 2009
During a business call this week, a fellow who listens to streaming radio and knows my interest in Volkswagen TDIs, mention that a station he listens to was holding a sweepstakes offering a New 2009 VW Jetta TDI Clean Diesel as their grand prize. The station is KCPW in Santa Monica, California and features “an […]
RichC | January 3, 2009
A few of us from the CinciTDI group enjoyed Saturday afternoon working on our Volkswagen TDI diesel cars and filming a new Fuel Injection Pump How To video. Bruce Bowling was once again in front of the camera and demonstrated the procedure to replace leaking gaskets and in making injection quantity (IQ) adjustments — both […]
RichC | December 30, 2008
In the last issue of Volkswagen’s DasAuto Magazine, the “Ask Volkswagen” segment answered one of the most common questions I hear Volkswagen TDI owners ask. This as to do with how their TDI diesel vehicles run alternatives to petroleum, be it be SVO, WVO (Straight or Waste Vegetable Oil) or biodiesel. The “Can I use […]
RichC | December 16, 2008
Volkswagen announced the availability of its 4Motion all-wheel-drive system for the Golf TDI in Europe … but not in North America, of course. The drivetrain is exclusive to TDI models utilizing the manual-transmission variant of the 2.0L TDI clean diesel engine. The fuel efficiently is down about 8 mpg from the FWD only model, but […]
RichC | July 14, 2008
The dealer demo TDIs have been slow to arrive to Cincinnati area dealerships, but today did get a chance to head over to Fairfield VW and test drive the new 2009 Jetta ‘clean diesel.’ Its basically the same body (A5) that has been part of the VW Jetta line up for a couple of years […]
RichC | December 30, 2007
Popular Mechanics has a great article in their January issue on the coming clean diesels noting “Hybrids beware!” The author Ben Hewitt points out that the new breed of diesels from companies like Volkswagen are capable of better fuel economy (74.3 mpg for the VW Polo TDI) and produce fewer greenhouse gases than some gas/electric […]
RichC | October 28, 2007
The Volkswagen Touareg has been impressive ever since its introduction back in 2003. It is a technology oriented 4×4 SUV that has developed an impressive pedigree over the last 4 years with races in Dakar, Baja, Pikes Peak and the unmanned DARPA competition. (race version of the Touareg2 to the right) The Touareg isn’t just […]
RichC | October 3, 2007
It has been a rare vehicle that has charmed me the way my 2003 Volkswagen Jetta TDI has … but all good things eventually come to an end; today I sold my car. I’ve spent the last year trying to solve a sore leg/hip problem that has been aggravated by my regular four hour trips […]
RichC | August 29, 2007
Speedway in Brimfield Ohio is still selling 500ppm LSD In a previous post I commented to the effect that maybe my 2003 VW Jetta TDI’s fuel economy might go down after purchasing new tires with a more aggressive all-weather tread. After two tanks of fuel, one B-20 (20% biodiesel and 80% Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel), […]
RichC | March 26, 2007
Volkswagens are often considered a ‘driver’s car,’ a vehicle that most car buyers can afford, unlike many European cars imported to the U.S. The engineering built into these vehicles is exceptional although they are not without their small quirks. Many go unnoticed until well into ownership or only when a problem occurs. One such quirk, […]
RichC | December 27, 2006
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
RichC | December 19, 2006
Its about time for my 2003 Volkswagen Jetta TDI to receive her new timing belt. As I close in on 100,000 miles the recommended services is to replace not only the timing belt, but the serpentine belt, the idler rollers and the water pump. Thankfully the later models come from the factory with a long […]
RichC | July 26, 2006
I’m posting this particular Volkswagen TDI “How To” video clip here before I send it to Jim at DieselGeek or post to the CinciTDI website in hopes to have a couple extra eyeballs checking it out. I’m not all that concerned about filmmaking criticism (my ego can’t take that), but I want to make sure […]
RichC | June 14, 2006
I know several readers of this blog are also Volkswagen TDI owners that come from a variety of diesel and biodiesel groups. The local club, CinciTDI, that I participate continues to create “How To” video clips that help with TDI related maintenance and modifications. I’m sitting on couple new “how to’s” and need to get […]
RichC | May 6, 2006
Car and Driver Magazine has a “Short Take Review” of the 2006 Volkswagen Jetta TDI written by Tony Quiroga this month which does a fair job of detailing VW’s only current US diesel. To be fair, the photos posted were taken by Nick Say and are also displayed in a slide show fashion in Car […]
RichC | April 8, 2006
John Neff and Chris Paukert talked at length today on their podcast about a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta TDI (diesel) vegetable oil conversion. (See Autoblog Podcast) John met with the owners in Lorain Ohio and spent some time checking out their vehicle. The two brothers, Chuck and Tom Norton, had their car converted to run on […]
RichC | March 21, 2006
Volkswagen is one of those companies that seems to get a tad ‘edgy’ in it advertising campaigns. From the “Vee-Dub” and “German Engineering, ya-man” ads mentioned a couple weeks ago, to the latest Hispanic targeting ads featuring the cartoon mouse ‘Speedy Gonzalez.’ I posted a comment a week or so ago on the CinciTDI group […]
RichC | March 9, 2006
The 2006 TDIClub and CinciTDI DVD is nearly ready to ship. The ‘teaser’ video clip is being posted here before being sent to the groups video pages. This is primarily to test the H.264 recorded ‘teaser’ clip in hopes to get a little feedback. Most Quicktime 7.0 users with relatively fast computers shouldn’t have problems […]
RichC | January 17, 2006
Don’t you just love that new car smell??? Well from the looks of it, Dick Gilpin’s best friend loves it too … let’s just hope the keys aren’t in it! I know Dick’s been waiting a long time for his new car to arrive and from the looks of it … its a beauty. He […]
RichC | October 15, 2005
October 14, 2005 was the day the US Department of Energy’s Clean Cities Program and the 80+ community-based coalitions celebrated the displacing of one billion gallons of petroleum across the nation. Kim Lahman (photo right), Tri-State Clean Fuel Network’s Coordinator, organized the local Cincinnati area event with many key participates at Cincinnati’s Ault Park. (what […]
RichC | April 28, 2005
I had a chance to test drive a new 2005 Volkswagen Black on Black Jetta V TDI today. This was the first opportunity to see the new reskinned TDI Jetta and I was very impressed. This new Jetta is not just sporting a new skin; its most definitely a totally new car with a bunch […]